Broken

27

Nayeon had been over the moon ever since her mother declared Jihyo would be an Im, she was a people's person and always wanted someone to pamper her 24/7 (more like a little sister to dote on, but she would never tell). The thing she had envied the other kids about, while growing up, was having a friend that would be there for you, always. That's why she was livid when she first saw how Jihyo was treated, she went murderous when she got to know the girl.

Mina, much like Nayeon, also enjoyed people's company, she was never approached much because her mother did her the favor of passing down her stoic façade, although her dad did make sure she would inherit his goofy sense of humor. It was so hard to make friends who weren't jerks nor looking to latch on to her """"""""""popularity""""""""""", she never really understood why the other kids were all so fixated on her, she just wanted to have fun and get passable grades.

When Mina saw that she could start a conversation with the quiet and smart kid she had been intrigued by, she didn't miss a beat and blurted out the first thing that came to her, luckily it worked wonders, when Tzuyu came, she had someone to share her troubles with that liked Jihyo just as much as she did (maybe a bit more). They were both angried than Nayeon about the girl, but Mina had to be the collected one, as Tzuyu had a very short temper and an even shorter self control.

Their group did fit very well with each other, but Jihyo had never opened up to them, everything they found out was through questionable means, (read: Tzuyu pulled her contacts, aka Elkie and Zhou the gossip queens) and had been working hard to get the girl to open up to them. It was starting to work, until Momo and Chaeyoung came around, the two seemed to throw their progress even further behind when they began. They were extremely resistant to their partners' fondness towards that girl, and made sure to be very clear about it....

Until Tzuyu exploded, threatened to break up with Chaeyoung and Mina if they didn't stop the nonsense, Mina sided with her and said Chaeyoung and Momo should get to know a bit more about Jihyo before continuing their bratty attitude. Nayeon wholeheartedly agreed, but was calmer about it, the two were even more afraid of her, and was very clear when she said they wouldn't be seeing any of the three until they could come back and tell them about Jihyo, whatever they could learn about the girl.

And so, they did. Momo was a bit more popular, she had this childish charm that dragged a wave of fans after she tried out for the dance club and they saw how she changed. Chaeyoung, on the other hand, had more select contacts, mostly the theatre, arts and photography kids, aka the ones that saw everything. It came as a full hand slap on their faces when they did get to know a little about Jihyo, and it took them a while to get on their soulmates' good side once more.

Through a lot of talking amongst themselves, failed plans, frustration, Jihyo's silence, and enough begging to earn them their own reddit thread (for Jihyo to let them in, that is), they managed to get there, and were all very shaken when they learned the girl was going away with a shattered heart and all by herself. Nayeon had been balling her eyes out whenever Jihyo wasn't around, Momo was trying to hold it together, but whenever it was the five of them, they would all just cry silently and get it out of their system, only, it never left them.

Tzuyu helped a lot, since she had an older sister that went abroad by herself as well, her sister's soulmate even passed during the first few months, and everything was all the more heartbreaking. The Chous were a very close family, and that kind of loss was everyone's loss, that meant Mina and Chaeyoung's too, by default their families, consequentially Nayeon and Momo (with their respective households), because they were family too. Jihyo helped a little, telling Tzuyu to just spend some time with her sister and waiting until she reached out.

The day came, and the Im family all went to take Jihyo to her destination, the girls spent the whole weekend moping around on Mina's room, until mama Myoui demanded they take a shower and go walk around the neighborhood, as they stank and the last time she had seen them out of said room was friday when they got in from school. She made sure they understood they were banned for, at least, five hours, while she got the maid to help scrub down the entire thing trying to get rid of the smell.

Nayeon managed to hold off until they passed security, she remained quietly sobbing until boarding, then cried a bit more on the plane before she slept, after tiring herself out with it. The first thing mrs Im told her when they landed was to get the girls together, mr Son had found out some very interesting things and she wanted to tell them all together, now that Jihyo was already away, safe and sound. So, they gathered on the Ims living room that night, and readied themselves to what they should find out that night.

"So, do you girls promise Jihyo will never hear about this?" Mr Son begins, Chaeyoung could swear she never heard him with such serious tone.

The girls nod, he didn't get this serious when Chae, in one of her creative bouts, oil painted his pristine blue car, that meant this was something they would take to their graves, no matter what.

"Good, because that kid has paid enough for that woman's sin." He says, noticing the confused looks from everyone, save his own wife. "She is the result of that woman's greed, the Park couple isn't a soulmate couple, but that woman met her soulmate, after she had been married for years and just decided to jump into her 'destined man' and Jihyo came from that. The Park guy knew, obviously, and, instead of holding it against that woman, for whatever reason, he decided to just resent the girl, that never had anything to do with it."

The others were in various stages of rage, but mr Son demanded they would do nothing and never mention it to Jihyo, or anybody outside that living room, meaning, the girls and their parents. Tzuyu asked if she could tell her sister, as they were bound to meet, eventually, and she didn't think she could keep it from her big sis, they agreed, if the time came, but the subject was to be dropped and buried.

They all took too long to calm down, so making dinner wasn't that much of on option anymore, so they all just went out to eat, coincidentally, the Yoo's restaurant, and, not so nicely coincidentally, the Parks were there, boasting whatever it was they didn't have (not for the group, anyways). It rubbed them in a very wrong way, but Chaeyoung, the incredible creative mind she was, just whispered to them she had a plan, but they needed to play it cool for now. Everyone just got a better grip on themselves and sat down to eat.

The Waving Cat, mr Yoo's restaurant, was THE restaurant on their side of town, the man was a two Michelin star chef, that was hard to find in Seoul as a whole. So, it was more of a statement, for most, to eat there, then really just wanting a really good meal, this particular group of people, just really wanted to eat something good because their day hadn't been that nice, maybe eating something nice would help. That's when, unexpectedly but not unsurprisingly, Jeongyeon was the one to come get their orders, she looked amused to see so many people come in, and fondly greeted them, even made sure their waitress was being quick and attentive enough.

Truly an heir right there. By the end of dinner, the girls had introduced Jeongyeon to their parents and they had met mr Yoo, a nice man, slightly shorter than his daughter, Nayeon found it hilarious, and a very good cook indeed. Mr Hirai and mrs Son seemed to find a connection with mr Yoo through their humour, which got everyone groaning and a lot of frustrated protests, thankfully, as they just found out, Momo managed to escape her father's sense of humor (or lack thereof).

Chaeyoung was very happy when the night ended, her plans seemed to get easier and easier.